Barbara Brooks (54) is the founder and CEO of Denver-based SecondActWomen. Built by and for women 40 & 50+, the media company is an IRL and virtual membership community for middlescent females. Together, with business partner Guadalupe Hirt (47), SecondActWomen delivers relevant content to drive women 40+ in business and career through workshops, bootcamps, conferences and a supportive social media community to advance women in their second acts.
Prior to SecondActWomen, she was an award-winning marketing and public relations specialist in the shopping center industry for Simon Property Group, General Growth and others at Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas, Park Meadows Retail Resort in Denver, Sundance Square downtown entertainment district in Fort Worth to name a few; and for a bit, she had a successful career in sales and business development for I Heart Radio, CBS Radio and Gannett.
Niani is a marketer-turned-tech recruiter-turned founder of the #HIREBLACK Initiative. #HIREBLACK started as a viral LinkedIn post requesting help in offering 19 Black womxn to receive resume feedback on Juneteenth, and grew into an initiative whose goal is to help 10,000 Black womxn get trained and hired promoted in corporate positions. #HIREBLACK is now a network of 15,000 people and counting featured on Forbes and ESSENCE.
Since its inception, #HIREBLACK has worked with companies like Amazon, Disney, Conde Nast, Niantic, Spotify, Uber, and more. Their resources have reportedly increased the total compensation of the HIREBLACK members by over $1.2 million.
Her work has garnered praise and recognition, and she won the Essence x Pine-Sol Build Your Legacy Contest in 2021. In 2021, Niani won the Future of Work grant by Create & Cultivate, was an honoree of the Future is Female award by Advertising Week, and was an honoree of the Diversity and Inclusion Award from the Women's Empowerment Institute in 2020.
